Naomi Dawn Musch

     It's been a little over a week since the MUSE Online Writers' Conference concluded (with the strangest - and only - online party I've ever attended), and here at home I just finished wrapping up my requested proposals and getting them sent out. I'm somewhat awed at how the whole process worked.

     If you've never heard of MUSE, you'll be surprised to discover that it's an eclectic writers' conference, held completely online, covering a full week's worth of workshops, forums, chats, and pitch sessions, that happens to be completely FREE.

     The cool thing was that there were over 1000 people registered for MUSE, so there were ample opportunities to make new friends, and especially to learn about other genres outside my own preferred one, all in a comfortable atmosphere of support, learning, and encouragement. Yet, out of those 1000+ attendees, only a handful took advantage of the pitch sessions with various editors and agents.

     These editors and agents were terrific. They took time to chat and answer a myriad of questions about their agencies and publishing houses, as well as about writing and the publishing industry in general. And then, to top it off, they listened to our pitches. And I'm telling you, there were some very respectable folks lined up here, from the smaller, independent publishing houses, to some well-known and highly sought after agents like Chip McGregor and Rachelle Gardner.

     It would take a long time for me to explain how the online aspect worked, but I'll just say that this was my first online conference experience, and that as long as I paid attention to the directions which Lea Schizas, the organizer of the event, carefully kept us abreast of, all went very smooth. I didn't need to be a computer guru to understand, I just had to pay attention.

     We were able sign up for as many workshops and chats as we wished. If, for some reason, we weren't able to make it to the scheduled chat, Lea posted all the transcripts in a file for us to go over when it was convenient for us to do so. As for the forums, like any online community, we could access them at any time, asking questions, posting responses, doing assignments, or just exploring. Many of the workshops gave downloadable hand-outs for us to work off of as well.

     There was so much to absorb in the conference, that it was really impossible to get it all in a week's time. However, because of that, Lea is leaving all the files up on the site for a month so that we can download as many of the workshop and other transcripts as we wish, and save them at home.

     This was such a relaxing way to attend a conference. I mean, how many conferences invite you to sit by a warm fire in your pajamas while you talk about your book to an interested publisher? And they couldn't even see us sweat or shake.

     I found that pitching online was easier for me than pitching face to face. That rattling "nerve factor" was only visible to me, and I felt more at ease putting my pitch in typing than I did into cohesive, spoken sentences. I was able to get the pitch typed out ahead of time exactly as I wanted it, and then just copy and paste. I had a number of answers to potential questions prepared that way ahead of time as well. This method worked really well.

     I wasn't able to attend any other conferences this year. So MUSE gave me the shot in the arm that I needed to keep on writing, and keep on submitting. I'm now waiting to hear back from two different publishers on two different manuscripts. What could be more exciting?

     REGISTER NOW FOR NEXT YEAR'S MUSE ONLINE WRITERS CONFERENCE: